威尼斯人娱乐城的核心是我们的校园社区。 With lots of opportunities, it’s easy to develop student mentorship teams. 这些丰富的关系，我们的动态二人组，是我们最好的成功故事。
Jennifer Truitt是心理学博士研究生二年级。 她目前正在为自己的论文做研究，研究一种被称为行为激活的疗法，对治疗抑郁症状非常有效。 特鲁伊特把它看作是对那些经历孤独和抑郁的LGBTQIA+年轻人的一种干预。 她还在研究社会环境是否会影响这种疗法的效果。
当Truitt考虑不同的项目时，她决定她的直接导师将是最重要的考虑因素之一。
“When you’re applying to a Ph.D. program, you are typically applying to work with a specific person,” Truitt said. “I joke that the application process for Ph.D.s is if like children had to send out applications to be adopted.”
在做了一些研究之后，Truitt联系了Daniel Maitland博士，他当时是俄亥俄州鲍灵格林州立大学的教授，现在是威尼斯人娱乐城的副教授，在了解了他的研究之后。 她想看看他们是否也能像普通人一样和睦相处。
“We got along great from the start,” Truitt said. “It was important for me to get a sense of the work he was doing and the speed of his research. 我想要一个还处于职业生涯早期的人。 His area of expertise was very close to what my interests were, and he just seemed like a really cool person to work with.”
Maitland’s research is focused on the bi-directional relationship between loneliness and one’s mental and physical health. 梅特兰最初是一名心理治疗研究人员，专门研究一种治疗形式，其特点是治疗师与客户之间的关系密切，治疗师被鼓励尽可能地做自己，这在该领域是不常见的。 从本质上讲，这种关系成为客户最亲密的关系之一，但它受到治疗背景的限制，其明确目标是帮助客户。 他研究了这种关系如何预测治疗结果，以及为什么会出现这些结果。 他的研究最终使他对人际关系的形成和后果产生了兴趣。
“I think we can create specific types of interactions that foster connection,” Maitland said. “When you look at loneliness research, people tend to just look at the outcome. 你到底寂寞不寂寞？ But they don’t look at how specific behaviors during interactions impact us, and that is really the part that I am interested in.”
Maitland’s research was featured in 纽约时报杂志 earlier this year. 在这篇文章中，他们引用了他在2021年的研究，他召集了一群自认为孤独的人参加一些建立关系的练习。
梅特兰说，他们第一次见面时，特鲁伊特问了他很多问题，花了很多时间和精力来了解他的人格类型和导师。
“It’s actually a funny story,” Maitland said. “My first interaction with Jennifer was when she accidentally sent me an email that was supposed to be for a different researcher she was applying to work with as well. 但当我们见面时，我对她在职业生涯这个阶段的经历印象深刻，并向她提供了与我一起工作的机会。 She then spent a long time interviewing me before accepting the offer.”
When the opportunity for Maitland’s wife, Elizabeth Neilson, Ph.D., now assistant professor in the 教育、社会工作与心理科学学院, to get a faculty position at 威尼斯人娱乐城 came, he was also offered a position, which he gladly accepted.
特鲁伊特是梅特兰的亲密徒弟，他决定也来。 他们一起解决了他们的研究和她的博士项目的后勤问题，她得以转学到威尼斯人娱乐城。
“As previously mentioned, when applying to a Ph.D. program, it’s typically so you can work with a very specific person,” Truitt said. “I wouldn’t have moved across the country to work with Daniel the first time if he wasn’t the person I wanted as mentor. 他是一个与自己的价值观一致的好人。 威尼斯人娱乐城 also emphasizes working with communities that I am passionate about which made it a lot easier to make that transition.”
梅特兰对她的决定非常满意。
“I was hoping she would follow me to 威尼斯人娱乐城,” Maitland said. “So, when she decided to, it was very exciting and rewarding to me as a mentor.”
梅特兰对特鲁特以及她在职业生涯中取得的成就感到非常自豪。
“I am constantly proud of Jennifer," Maitland said. “我很高兴看到她的进步和不断的成长。 Not only did she take on a very ambitious research project, but she also got a $25,000 grant, which isn’t common for any first-year graduate student. I can’t wait to grow along with her.”
Truitt was honored as one of the 10 Generation Z changemakers by the 有目的的粉色项目。, national initiative presented by the partnership between The Jed Foundation and Victoria’s Secret Pink. 它承认并支持年轻人从事加强社区和促进积极心理健康的项目。
特鲁伊特非常重视她在梅特兰的指导。
“Daniel’s mentorship is tremendously important to me,” Truitt said. “People in mentor roles sometimes don’t know how to deal with people with unpleasant things, and Daniel handles it well. 我很欣赏他对待学生的态度。 他也非常善于给予和接受反馈。 I’ve never ended a conversation without him asking if he can help me and I know he genuinely means it.”
特鲁伊特很享受在堪萨斯大学转校生的时光，她结识了新朋友，还参观了堪萨斯城。 她说，除了她的导师之外，她对转学感兴趣的原因之一是威尼斯人娱乐城有望获得卡内基研究1或R1的称号。
“The fact that 威尼斯人娱乐城 is making the push for being R1 made my decision to transfer a lot easier, on top of Daniel’s mentorship,” Truitt said. “I plan to go down the academia route for my career and I knew it would provide me with an environment to do the level of work I am interested in without constantly worrying about funding. There are also just more opportunities at an R1 institution, and I am very excited for the future of research at 威尼斯人娱乐城.”
梅特兰对R1也有类似的看法。
“Oh my gosh, 威尼斯人娱乐城 receiving R1 means everything,” he said. “That’s a huge part in why I was excited to join 威尼斯人娱乐城, besides my wife. 这是为了成为R1的野心。 它带来了额外的资源和声望。 It allows for you to reach levels of your career you can’t otherwise. It also comes with and understanding of expectations and standards that make a big difference in the scientific community.”